Guide Note

Kevin Lamar James is the founder of JIS, a radical Islamic terrorist cell that authorities claim was plotting attacks on targets in Los Angeles. James, who formed the organization while at Folsom State Prison in Sacramento, pleaded guilty to federal terrorism charges in December, 2007.

Fast Facts

1. Born: ca. 1976
2. Residence: Folsom State Prison, Sacramento, California
3. Has been in prison since 1996
4. Crimes: armed robbery, waging war against United States
5. Pleaded guilty to terrorism charges: December, 2007
6. Other members of cell: Levar Washington, Gregory Patterson, Hammad Samana
7. Sentencing: 2009

According to the FBI, James recruited fellow inmates at Folsom State Prison to a radical form of Islam that compared their plight to that of oppressed Muslims around the world. The goal of the group was to target U.S. military bases, Jewish synagogues, and Israeli offices in and around the Los Angeles area. In order to fund the scheme, recruits, upon their release from prison were sent to rob gas stations. Levar Washington, one of the recruits, was sentenced to 22 years in prison in late June, 2008, after being arrested for robbing a Torrance, California, gas station.